Golf: Italy starts strong at Scottish

Molinari and Bertasio lead with Kuchar and Wattel

(ANSA) - Rome, July 12 - Italy had a strong start on the
first day of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open on
Thursday, with Nino Bertasio and Edoardo Molinari who, with a
first round of 63 (-8), earned a temporary lead together with
Matt Kuchar of the US and Romain Wattel of France on the green
at the par-71 Renaissance Club.
In North Berwick in the third 2019 tournament of the Rolex
Series, Bertasio had no bogies and eight birdies.
Molinari, nicknamed "Dodo", had two eagles, five birdies, and
one bogey.
"I've been playing well for a few weeks; now I have to pay
attention," Molinari said.
"The hope is to keep up this pace," he said.
This tournament precedes the Open Championship on July 18-21
in Northern Ireland, the fourth and last major of the season.
Along with Molinari and Bertasio, Italian golfer Guido
Migliozzi also did well, coming in 18th place (66, -5), just
four strokes from the leaders.
Renato Paratore also had a good day, coming in 29th at 67,
-4.
All six Italian players came in under par, including Andrea
Pavan and Lorenzo Gagli tied in 54th (68, -3), alongside, among
others, the reigning Scottish Open champion Brandon Stone of
South Africa.
In a tournament with many big international names on the
green, Bertasio and Molinari stole the scene.
After taking the lead, they were looking back at high-caliber
opponents including Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, ranked third
and fourth worldwide, respectively, both at 67, -4.
Thursday was a great day for Italian golf overall, with
Molinari and Bertasio at the Scottish Open and Lucrezia
Colombotto Rosso in the lead and Stefania Avanzo in second place
at the Ribeira Sacra Patrimonio De La Humanidad International
Ladies Open in the LET Access Series, the second-largest
European women's circuit.
In addition, the Italian Ladies and Girls advanced to the
semifinals in the European championships, in Sardinia and Spain,
respectively.